E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Tufted perennial herb from a taproot; stems tufted, 1-12 cm tall, glabrous to finely feltlike and woolly with starlike hairs.

Leaves:
Usually all basal, linear to oblanceolate or egg-shaped, 0.5-1.5 cm long, 1-5 mm wide, densely feltlike and woolly with starlike hairs, toothed, midribs firm and withering but persistent; stem leaves lacking or sometimes 1-2.

Flowers:
Racemes 3- to 15-flowered; petals white, 2.5-4 mm long.

Fruits:
Silicles, (3) 7-12 (20) mm long, 1-2 (3.5) mm wide, linear to elliptic or narrowly oblong-oblanceolate, somewhat contorted, glabrous to starlike-hairy; fruiting stalks shorter than silicles; styles 0.2-0.5 mm long; seeds 8-30, about 1 mm long.

Notes:
Three varieties occur in BC.

1. Stems with 1 or 2 leaves, usually more than 2 mm wide; silicles usually appressed to axis of the inflorescence; stems and stalks frequently hairy................ var. vestita O.E. Schulz

1. Stems leafless or rarely with 1 leaf, less than 2 mm wide; silicles usually spreading; upper stems and stalks usually glabrous.

2. Silicles more than 2 mm wide................. var. thompsonii (C.L. Hitchc.) Rollins

2. Silicles less than 2 mm wide............... var. lonchocarpa